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MLBTR Reader Blog

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Openserving is a community-based project not unlike Digg, where social bookmarking, blogging, and democratic editorial control are combined (to quote Wikipedia). 

I’d like to try out this concept with an MBLTR flavor.  This is your chance to write about trade rumors or signings I may have missed on MLBTR, providing your own analysis.  Maybe it’s a sketchy message board rumor that you just want to throw out there.  Maybe you’d like to discuss Frank Thomas and pillow fights, even though it’s not exactly a trade rumor.  Click here to visit the MLBTR Reader Blog, and contribute today!

You also have the ability to vote up the best stories so that they’ll land on the front page.  There’s nothing there yet; we have to get the ball rolling.  You can even vote on the comments, too.  So hop in, link to something interesting, and show off your writing chops.  This is a great place to link to cool blog articles (including your own) or any other interesting baseball stuff.  Here is the link again for the MLBTR Reader Blog; I will put it in the sidebar and refer to it here and there assuming it’s active.

Let me know what you think.  It’s not quite a message board, but it bridges the gap a little bit.  Early returns after a few posts: cool concept, could be a nice complement to the site if we keep it active.  I switched to a standard black on white color scheme as it just seemed better.  Maybe I can get a banner in there for the title.

Welcoming Two More Writers

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I just added John Peterson to help with the Mets coverage – you can read his first post here.  I would also like to welcome two additional writers to the team.

Dan LaToraca is an English major at the University of Scranton, writes for the school newspaper, and follows the Yankees religiously.  He’s often seen in the press box at Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees games (Triple A).  Dan already has a Phil Hughes interview to his credit (did you know Phil likes to listen to AFI and Rise Against?)  Dan will write about the big club and the Triple A team.  Maybe he’ll get to talk to Kei Igawa in Scranton in a few weeks (kidding).

Nik Kolidas is a recording artist from NYC and a die hard Mets fan since the late 70’s.  He’s written political editorials for NY Newsday, been a guest blogger on many daily Mets boards and never misses a game.  He has a vast knowledge of Mets history ranging from Roger Craig through Billy Wagner.  His Mets claim to fame is standing by the third base dugout in Shea on October 25, 1986 as Mookie Wilson hit the dirt.  Nik and John will work together to cover the Mets.

Rockies Rumors: Kim, Holliday

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A few small Rockies tidbits from Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post:

  • Part of the reason the Rockies were unable to bring reliever Ron Villone aboard was that they didn’t have room in their budget.  To get some flexibility, they’d love to unload Byung-Hyun Kim’s $2.5MM and get a cheap reliever in return.  Renck mentions that the Rox have kicked the tires on Milwaukee’s recently demoted Jose Capellan. 
  • Scott Boras declared yesterday that there will be no in-season negotiations regarding a multiyear contract for Matt Holliday.  Holliday won’t reach free agency until after 2009, but if he keeps doing what he’s doing he’ll make the most money by going year-to-year.  Another Boras client, Joe Crede, has followed this model.  I believe Crede can compare himself to free agent peers in his final arbitration year after this season.  If you think he’s on par with Adrian Beltre, he might be in line for $10MM.  That might mean a midsummer trade.  But I digress.

Ichiro On Matsuzaka

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I know this is a translation, but this quote from Ichiro regarding Daisuke Matsuzaka is worth a mention:

"I hope he arouses the fire that’s dormant in the innermost recesses of my soul."

That is a strange thing to say in any language.  At any rate, it doesn’t sound like playing for the Mariners excites him.

Wednesday’s Mariners-Red Sox game is shaping up to be a classic.  Matsuzaka vs. Felix Hernandez at Fenway, plus the Ichiro angle. 

Padres Sign Chris Young To Four-Year Deal

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Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Padres will announce a four-year contract for starter Chris Young tomorrow.  There’s also a club option for the fifth year.  Rosenthal also mentions that the club is working on a three-year deal for Mike Cameron; they had been reluctant to add the third year.

The dollars haven’t been revealed yet, but Young’s deal could be in the neighborhood of $10MM guaranteed with a $7-8MM option for 2011.  However, Young may have wanted more money than the Noah Lowry/Rich Harden/Matt Cain standard package.  He entered 2007 with 69 big league starts under his belt, more than any of the aforementioned three.  Interestingly, PECOTA doesn’t like Young.  It doesn’t see him ever reaching 200 innings in a season.

I don’t want to irritate Rangers fans so I won’t go on and on about how badly Kevin Towers ripped off Jon Daniels to acquire Young, Adrian Gonzalez, and Terrmel Sledge.  Let’s just say it was one of the most lopsided deals of the decade and leave it at that.

Pitchers like Cole Hamels, Rich Hill, and Scott Kazmir may be in line for similar deals if they post strong 2007 seasons.

UPDATE: Young himself denied Rosenthal’s report last night, yet the Padres have a press conference scheduled for this morning.

UPDATE 2: Despite yesterday’s denial from Young, the Padres made the deal official today.  The terms: four years, $14.5MM, with an $8.5MM option for the fifth year. 

Additionally, Mike Cameron’s agent expects a resolution soon according to MLB.com.

The Benitez/Julio/Burgos Connection

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It’s all connected in beautiful symmetry: First Armando Benitez pitched for the Orioles, Mets and Marlins, and now hurls for the elderly Giants. When Jorge Julio came to New York by way of Baltimore, it seemed that Benitez had never left.  Also a shaky, flame-throwing right-hander, Julio even looked like Benitez to Mets fans– many of them thought the two pitchers were the same man.  Now Julio occupies Benitez’s former role as Marlins’ closer.

What does this have to do with the Mets now? According to DNL from Armchair GM, the trade last year of Kris Benson and his wife Anna to the Baltimore Orioles for John Maine and Jorge Julio had a deeper meaning.  Perplexing on the surface– why trade away needed started pitching for an unnecessary, shaky reliever?– the trade was greatly redeemed when Julio was traded to the Diamondbacks for Orlando Hernández.

The armchair GM proposes that this was Omar Minaya’s plan all along- to showcase the young, high-upside fireman early in the year in order to trade him later for a good veteran pitcher.  This is what the team is now doing with Ambiorix Burgos, or so this speculation goes.  Acquired from Kansas City for Brian Bannister, Burgos seemed like an unlikely candidate for the Mets’ solid bullpen, and despite continuing his struggles during spring training, made the team and pitched with a one run lead yesterday afternoon against the Phillies.  Perplexingly, he was left in the game to face the lefty slugger Ryan Howard with a base open and the tying and lead runs in scoring position.  Why? Perhaps Omar Minaya told Willie Randolph to "give him some good spots," and the manager complied.

It’s possible that Burgos, the successor to the Benitez/Julio line (yes, he also looks like part), will be on the move some time this year for a starting pitcher.

John Peterson is a Mets fan and writes for the blog Blastings Thrilledge.

Let’s Make A Deal: Jose Castillo

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26 year-old Pirates infielder Jose Castillo hasn’t exactly asked for a trade, but you get the impression he would welcome one.  He doesn’t have a position with the Bucs after Freddy Sanchez returned from the DL Sunday.

Castillo has played mostly second base in his Major League career.  While he’s played outfield in winter ball, his bat doesn’t play there unless he’s an above-average center field glove.  That seems very doubtful.  He was raised a shortstop in the minors, but started playing second base in Double A in ’03 when Pokey Reese got injured.  His work at short had been lousy, and soon he was to be the Bucs’ Second Baseman of the Future.

I asked Jake at Bucco Blog about Castillo’s defense.  His description: "He’s a natural shortstop without the range anymore. Soft hands, better than average arm, lightning quick pivots, and better than average 2B range."  Jake mentioned that Castillo plays hard and could win a Gold Glove one day.  This is not a starry-eyed Bucs fan speaking, as Jake has been plenty critical of the Pirates. 

In 2004 Castillo was able to make the jump from Double A to the bigs and break camp with the team, albeit in a second-base timeshare with Bobby Hill.  Soon enough, he was playing every day.  Castillo didn’t hit much in his rookie season but finished strong.  Skipping Triple A may have stunted his development, however.

He was the starting 2B to begin 2005, but a strained oblique cut into his season initially.  As a sophomore, he improved his SLG to .416 but a torn knee ligament in August ended his season. 

The knee was fine to start 2006.  After a weak April, Castillo had the best month of his life in May, hitting .366/.413/.634 with 7 home runs.  He never managed to slug .400 in any other month last year.  Castillo was benched in August, apparently because he threw his arms up in disgust when a runner failed to score from second on his single.

This winter, shortstop Jack Wilson called Castillo out, saying he’d rather partner with Freddy Sanchez at second.  Castillo lost some weight before the season but also lost the third base job to Jose Bautista.

At this point, Castillo’s stock might be even lower than Jorge Cantu’s.  At least Cantu has translated his potential into results for one season.  I named the Braves, Mets, and Rockies as reasonable fits for Cantu earlier.  Castillo is probably in the same boat, and the Braves did express interest in him when working out the Mike Gonzalez deal.

Castillo is still young enough to step it up to his 75th percentile PECOTA projection – .275/.329/.440.  But that’s still not much better than Ron Belliard, who was freely available this winter.  Either Littlefield will send him off for a pittance just to get him off the team, or he’ll continue to warm the bench for the Bucs.  Outside of a single month, he hasn’t really justified a starting role.

Rockies Still Hawking Kim

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An unhappy Byung-Hyun Kim isn’t doing much for the Rockies in their bullpen, and they’d love to unload the sidearmer and his $2.5MM salary.  Ken Rosenthal says the Rox could release Kim if they can’t find a taker.  That wouldn’t look great for Dan O’Dowd, who made the decision to exercise Kim’s option back in November.

Rosenthal describes "low-level discussions" regarding Kim with the Orioles, A’s, Royals, and Cardinals.  The O’s wouldn’t surrender even Todd Williams for Kim.  Joe Kennedy had a strong first effort for Oakland, so their interest may be reduced.  I originally thought he’d be a good fit for St. Louis, but Cards fans disagreed.  Perhaps Chris Carpenter’s condition will heighten their interest.

The Rangers, Pirates, Marlins, and Dodgers have been connected to Kim in the past. 

Yankees Starting Pitching Looking Ugly

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I understand that the Chien-Ming Wang injury was just bad luck, and that the Yankees are being careful with him.  Still, can you believe a $190MM team has a rotation including Carl Pavano, Darrell Rasner, and Kei Igawa right now?  The Yankees’ starting pitching has been atrocious.  I don’t mean to overreact after a week but one can certainly picture below-average contributions from Pavano and Igawa all year.  Even the Yanks can’t give away two games out of every five.

Maybe Igawa gets acclimated, posts a 4.50 ERA over the balance of the season.  But you have to admit that paying $46MM over five seasons to get him was very questionable from the start.  People spent the winter talking about the "New Yankees," who didn’t just throw money at mediocre players to solve their problems.  They did just that with Igawa, and it was clearly a reaction to the Matsuzaka signing.  Why not spend that same money to bring Ted Lilly back?  At least with that move there would’ve been relatively certainty that you’d get 180 innings of 4.50 ball, since Lilly has done it before in the AL East.   

As Joel Sherman writes, the Yankees may need to be rescued by Roger Clemens and Phil Hughes.  The team needs to call up Hughes sooner rather than later.  A front four of Mussina, Pettitte, Wang, and Hughes can certainly carry the team to the playoffs.  Filtering between Igawa and Pavano for the fifth man and skipping his turn when possible would probably be sufficient.  While Hughes would help, it’s Clemens who would really tip the balance of power towards the Yankees.  They’ll still have to convince him to leave a comfy situation in Houston. 

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